Making digital technology work for you

For seed dealers who are looking to simplify their business through digital technology, MyMonsanto, SeedTrak, and electronic bar coding are great places to begin.

For retailers who sell a variety of crop inputs and services – and for businesses using accounting software systems that support multiple locations – Monsanto eConnectivity provides a timely exchange of business critical information; offers a single point of data submission in a retailer's system; reduces the need for manual inventory data entry; and increases accuracy by removing data entry keying errors.

If Monsanto eConnectivity is right for you, contact your software provider and collaborate through AgGateway to establish a platform and a way of doing business that meets your needs. That's according to Steve Schaefer, Enabling Technologies Business Lead at Monsanto and current Chair of AgGateway, a consortium of businesses serving the agriculture industry whose mission is to promote, enable, and expand eBusiness in agriculture. Working through AgGateway allows retailers and software providers to leverage existing platforms, or help create standards that others can share.

"What works for one will work for many," Schaefer says. "And, it's important to choose the right software solution to run your entire business – not just looking at one segment. You define the need, and we'll work to integrate. At Monsanto, we work through AgGateway to develop standards, or assist software providers to determine what standards exist."

Schaefer adds that, prior to adopting Monsanto eConnectivity, it's important to make sure your accounting and inventory management systems are built upon a solid technology foundation and to think through the process changes and employee learning requirements necessary to making the adoption of digital technology a success for your business.